RICK CASTRO~ BDAY/PUMPKIN TEA SALON

my birthday/pumpkin tea salon today was very nice....
since i turned the ripe old age of 57,(!!) on july 20th, i thought i would throw caution to the wind and bake a pie!
my long time doll of a friend~ KATE MCCONN & i have a victory garden in her backyard. along with all our produce we are now on our 4th pumpkin!, (number 5 is still on the vine) this inspired me to bake a pumpkin pie.. after my sweet, but flaky friend IRIS PARKER flaked out on me i was forced to bake all on my lonesome. i ended up making 2 pumpkin pies & 1 pumpkin tarte.
i aslo rosted some pumpkin seeds, grilled some pumpkin skins and make a small batch of pumpkin soup.
still to come~ pumpkin marmalade and pumpkin syrup.

@ five o'clock on the dot my birthday pumpkin tea part began.

my guests included

LAWRENCE ELBERT
ARTHUR DAVIS III
ENRIQUE CASTREJON
KATE MCCONN
JEFFREY DAHMER
CAKE BATTER, (DOG)

i served my pumpkin guests

golden yunan with cinnamon stick & roses
charleston tea plantation earl grey &  fresh mint

accompanied by

pumpkin pie made with dates, molasses & maple syrup
pumpkin pie made with yogurt, egg whites & cinnamon
pumpkin tarte made with dates, molasses, cloves, walnuts & orange zest

roasted pumpkin seeds sprinkled with paprika & cinnamon
grilled pumpkin skins with paprika & chili

lawrence elbert made a chocolate meringue cake
enrique castrejon brought red velvet mini cakes from kitchen 24

here are some beautiful pics courtesy~ lawrence elbert~ hollywood/antebellum correspondent

 pics courtesy~ lawrence elbert~ hollywood/antebellum correspondent

HAPPY HOUR @ ANTEBELLUM!

my happy hour with antebellum artist~ DAVID CROCKER was impromptu yesterday.
we decided to have our "cordial" a little past tea time.
i served david~
BULLEIT burbon whiskey with apple juice, sparkling water and a squeeze of orange from our tree.
as a garnish i added one concord grape pierced with a toothpick.
this really took the edge off our day.

photo courtesy~ david crocker- silverlake/antebellum correspondent

BAKING THE CHARLIE BROWN PUMPKIN

today we baked our great pumpkin for the 2ND PUMPKIN TEA SALON.
actually antebellum artist~ david crocker did all the baking. i just did the slicing & dicing. 
it was a nice way to spend a sunday afternoon. all in all we came up with~
 two pumpkin pies, 
2 lofts of pumpkin bread, 
pumpkin soup, 
roasted, spicy pumpkin seeds 
and pumpkin syrup!

for happy hour we had whiskey with pumpkin syrup with orange garnish..
what an amazing foodie afternoon.


if you wanna taste our treats, please join us for the 2nd pumpkin tea salon & happy hour on wednesday~ september 24th~ 5pm
$5 cover
for more info~ antebellum@earthlink.net

photos courtesy~ david crocker & craig~  silverlake/antebellum correspondents

2ND PUMPKIN TEA SALON

~PRESENTS~

2ND PUMPKIN TEA SALON

& HAPPY HOUR

~WEDNESDAY~

5PM TILL 7PM

$5 COVER

TEA & PUMPKIN DELIGHTS WILL BE SERVED

cash bar

sip tea

view erotic art

chat with friends &art patrons

a nice tea salon before fall

relax and take a load off your sling~backs

wednesday~ 5pm till 7pm

please RSVP

antebellum@earthlink.net

OUR FIRST EAR

after months of  cultivating & gardening kate & i picked our first ear of corn!
it was so delicious. tasty & hearty... 100% natural... fuck GMOs.

photo courtesy~ kate mcconn~ inglewood/antebellum correspondent

RICK'S STRAWBERRY SUMMER SALAD

this is my new favorite salad to serve during hot weather.. it is so tasty and so good for you.try it now~

INGREDIENTS

organic, pre-washed arugula organic strawberries, washed and sliced- large piecessheep's milk feta cheese, crumbled2 Tbsp nuts of your choicetry almond slivers or pecansfreshly ground peppersliced hass avacadoolive oil & basamic vinager, to taste 

DIRECTIONS

1. hand tear greens in bite size pieces. Place in a large bowl.
2. Top with remaining ingredients and a tiny pinch of pepper.
3. Drizzle with desired amount of dressing and toss before serving.

RICK'S RECIPES

hallo all my dear readers! how are you?
i would like to present a new semi~regular posting to antebellumblog called~
RICK'S RECIPES.
as you all know among my many fetishes, i also have a food fetish... so here is my first recipe~
RICK'S SWEET POTATO SALAD

pre-heat oven- 400 degrees

with a fork punch little holes in your sweet potato

cook for approx- 15- 20mins, (depending if you want your potatoes to be firm or softer)

test firmness  with fork.

remove from oven and let cool down

peel sweet potato and cut into large cubes

place in a bowl 

add  one or two table spoons of vegannaise, (not mayonnaise) 

you can add  one, some or all of the following ingredients~

chopped parsley
chopped spinach
chopped kale
chopped swiss chard
chopped celery
chopped fuji apple
rasins
sesame seeds

squeeze a little fresh orange

mix together
chill in fridge
serve 

DESIGNER BREAKFAST

WHICH MEAL WAS RICK'S AND WHICH WAS RICARDO'S?

photo courtesy~ ricardo carranza~ watts/antebellum correspondent

KEY LIME PIE!

my very long~time, (we met @ age 10!)  doll of a friend~ERIC HEINS~ took me to a sweet little dinner last night@ the blue cow- downtown LA. the place was really LOUD.. the best part of the meal was desert.. KEY LIME PIE! i have a fetish for key lime pie as does eric....

and also BRIDGET BERLIN, ( WARHOL SUPERSTAR) is obsessed with key lime pie.~
check it out~


photos courtesy~ eric heins~ san francisco/antebellum correspondent

A NICE GLASS OF WINE

a glass of red with eddie~ during happy hour @ perch~ downtown, LA

photo courtesy~eddie jelinet~ long beach/antebellum correspondent

BLACK CAT DINNER

photo courtesy~ zae gaines~ hollywood/antebellum correspondent

TEA TIPS FROM RICK CASTRO

EASY EATS: Tea with 

RICK CASTRO

For Betty Gonia, afternoon tea is a relaxing day to the end the day... and the column.

    

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Today's Easy Eats is very special because I am sharing an interview with my long time friends from high school, and afternoon tea expert, Mr. Rick Castro.  He has an art gallery in Hollywood called Antebellum.  You can also find his blogs on Hollywood Patch.  He was in Palm Springs recently for the Film Noir Festival, and we met for breakfast at the Ace Hotel.

Every afternoon at 4:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. in the winter), Rick serves afternoon tea at the Antebellum.  He shared with me some guidelines for a succesful tea.

• No more than 7 guests because you only want one conversation.
• Make a toast only by raising tea cups and never clinking them as they may break.
• The spirit of afternoon tea is important in this day and age.  It is a one to two hour respite in the day and a mini-vacation.
• Afternoon tea helps you be more productive because youre stepping away to take in the moment and regroup.

For Rick, the accompaniments to the afternoon tea are important.  The food should always be on the plain side, because the tea is the star.  He suggests one savory and one sweet such as egg salad sandwiches mane from veganaise and chopped chives.  For a sweet, he enjoys toasted crumpets (found at Trader Joe's and Ralphs), with (preferably British) lemon curd.

The best way to serve tea is to keep the tea with its own flavor.  No milk or sugar added!  He learned form his tea master to find the best water possible and to preheat the pot as well as the teacups.  Rick hand-blends his own loose tea.  On this particular day he favored black tea from India and baby rosebuds.  Begin with cold water and when the water just begins to boil, pour it into a preheated teapot with a teaspoon of loose tea.  Let it steep for four minutes, then serve.

I very much enjoyed my time with Rick and leanring about afternoon tea.  I hope he returns to the desert soon.  

READ MORE-

repost courtesy~ betty fenar~ palm desert/antebellum correspondent

DOESN'T THIS LOOK GOOD?!

i'm going to try and make it~ cheese raviolli with sage!

RECIPE TO REMEMBER

EASY GAZPACHO


Today’s recipe comes from a need to use up some ripe tomatoes and produce.
I found a bag of about six limes and a bag of about eight large jalapeno chilies.
This makes simple, refreshing appetizer for our desert summer weather.

Easy Gazpacho

1 onion, quartered

3 large jalapenos, seeded and quartered

4 ripe tomatoes

1 clove garlic

The juice of 1 lime

Salt to taste

1 lime quartered, reserved for garnish

In a blender put all ingredients except the lime for garnish. Blend until puréed. Serve immediately.
If making ahead, you will need to re-blend as the gazpacho separates over time.
Serves four

posted by betty fenar- palm desert/antebellum corespondent